I just had a messed up idea for my dinosaur series. In a future volume, I am thinking of depicting human/dinosaur hybrids. These grotesque monstrosities will add an extra layer of chaos during the dinosaur resurgence. They will be like the infected humans from I Am Legend or 28 Days Later, which were completely mindless with purely animalistic tendencies. The origin of these hybrids will be classified, but when they appear and their numbers increase they will be the final nail in the coffin for human civilization.
In my earlier posts, I spoke of potential encounters normal civilians would have with dinosaurs. I have decided to write such encounters in the form of short stories. Each of these volumes will consist of seven short stories. The first seven short stories will revolve around campers, a farmer, a cop, a fisherman, a hiker, a bride and groom, and a safari guide. Each of these characters will come face-to-face with a different species of reverse engineered dinosaur and their world will be turned upside down. How would everyday people react when they meet colossal beasts that have not existed for 65 million years?
Fossils, particularly skulls, have always served as one of the most recognizable symbols for dinosaurs. The most commonly used skull is that of Tyrannosaurus Rex. I am thinking of creating my own unique skull of one of my new dinosaurs as the logo and cover of my dinosaur series. My skull will be partially based on a Giganotosaurus skull (pictured above).
Possibly an even worse abomination than the Indominus Rex would be the Indoraptor from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The Indoraptor was the same size as the Utahraptor and even more dangerous. This creature was specifically bred to be a living weapon and it had a number of traits that made it well-suited for such a role. Like the Indominus Rex, the Indoraptor has supercharged killing instincts, which is useful when deployed on a battlefield.
There was a targeting system used to help the Indoraptor a basic understanding between friend or foe. This targeting system involved painting a target with a laser, which would allow the Indoraptor to identify the target. Once the target is painted, the Indoraptor’s handler would use a sound-based system that would serve as the attack command. When this command is given, the Indoraptor would be relentless in hunting down and attacking the designated target.
Due to having a lot more Velociraptor DNA than the Indominus Rex, the Indoraptor was both cunning and intelligent. This intellect was displayed when the Indoraptor pretended to be sedated in order to lure a mercenary into its cage. When the mercenary felt safe and tried to remove one of the Indoraptor’s teeth, the Indoraptor would strike. This demonstrated that the Indoraptor possessed a degree of sadism to go along with its intelligence.
The Indoraptor also possessed a very durable body. It was revealed to have a strong tolerance or immunity to sedatives. Its scaly skin is partially bulletproof. Shooting the Indoraptor would stun it, but the bullets would fall off its skin shortly afterward. Ultimately, it took the horns of a Triceratops skull to penetrate the Indoraptor’s hide.
In addition, it was revealed in the Indoraptor’s character profile that it also had night vision and echolocation. This would make it well-suited for stealth missions. As demonstrated when the Indoraptor bit a man’s arm off, its teeth are so sharp that it takes its victim’s blood vessels a moment to realize they were cut. This causes blood loss to be slower than normal, which is why we didn’t see much blood when the mercenary’s arm was severed. The Indoraptor’s claws are just as sharp, which was shown when it cut through the metal railing of a staircase.
One notable feature that sets the Indoraptor apart from the other dinosaurs from Isla Nublar is the fact that it is male. In both Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, the dinosaurs were purposely female in order to control their populations. Later, the dinosaurs overcame this limitation by changing their gender. With the Indoraptor, it had higher levels of testosterone, which would have made it more aggressive like a bull elephant during the mating season. This increased aggression would have made the Indoraptor an even more brutal killing machine.
The really scary thing about the Indoraptor is the fact that it was just a prototype. Due to this, it needed to be refined in a number of areas. While the targeting system gave the Indoraptor some degree of following orders and telling friend from foe, it did not have the same level of discipline and obedience that Owen Grady’s Velociraptors had. Also, because of its status as a new lifeform, the Indoraptor had no idea how to behave. As Dr. Henry Wu said, the Indoraptor needed a parental figure to teach it how to behave. Once it learned these behavioral patterns, the Indoraptor would become more compliant with human commands. If the Indoraptor was completely refined to its full potential as a living weapon, I can only imagine what it would be capable of.
Overall, I felt the Indoraptor was a fictional dinosaur with a lot of potential, but I think it did not live up to that potential in the movie. I think the Indoraptor could have been a lot scarier than it was originally portrayed. Despite its intellect, the Indoraptor mostly behaved like a rabid attack dog instead of a calculating killer like Jack the Ripper. Even though it was stated that it had night vision and echolocation, those abilities were not featured in the film. Still, the Indoraptor had a strong presence on the screen when we first saw it. I can only imagine how much damage could have been done if there was a pack of Indoraptors instead of just the one.
One of my favorite fictional dinosaurs would be the Indominus Rex from Jurassic World. I think the Indominus Rex best symbolizes the unpredictability that comes from creating a new lifeforms from scratch. When you create an organism that has never existed before, you have no way of knowing what kind of behavioral patterns it would have or what it is capable of. I liked that it had fully functional arms, which is a stark contrast from Tyrannosaurus Rex’s small arms. Another trait of the Indominus Rex that I liked was the fact that it had the intellect of a Velociraptor, which gave it sophisticated problem solving skills. Because it had exaggerated predatory features, the Indominus Rex had overly supercharged killing instincts. This is best demonstrated when it slaughtered an entire herd of Apatosaurus and bit the head off an Ankylosaurus for sport by itself. Like the Abelisaurs that were used in its creation, the Indominus Rex was a cannibal, which was highlighted when it ate its own sibling. The Indominus Rex also possessed other abilities that set it apart from more traditional carnivorous dinosaurs such as infrared vision, camouflage, and avoiding thermal detection. Overall, the Indominus Rex was an unholy abomination that would have been the scourge of the prehistoric world if it existed in real life.
I have reached the fifteenth chapter of my dinosaur book and things are going to heat up from this point onward. The human characters only have a week’s worth of provisions and they need to traverse fifty miles of primeval jungle. In their haste, the characters will come face-to-face with more of their prehistoric creations. Later, I will be featuring scenes from the dinosaurs’ point of view.
I have reached the fourteenth chapter of my dinosaur book. After a vicious attack, the characters are now forced to adapt to the increasing severity of their situation. You get to see the characters start to mentally deteriorate as they struggle with the stress of being trapped and hunted. It is a very psychological and emotional chapter that sets the stage for the next stage of challenges the characters will face.
I remember my trips to Hawaii over the years and the first thing that stood out was the island’s plants. I remember how the plants all seemed to be fused together into one giant mass. It was like looking at a vast network of life enveloping the island. I can see why the Jurassic Park movies were made here. It felt like the interconnecting plants were hiding something big behind their branches. There was always something that felt primeval about the jungles of Hawaii. A part of me thought: “If I look around that tree and there was a Triceratops behind it, I would not be surprised.” In a way, dinosaurs were on Hawaii because of the many chickens that lived on it. Out of the many birds that exist, the chicken is the closest living avian relative to dinosaurs. I am thinking of drawing inspiration from my interactions with both Hawaii’s jungles and chickens for my dinosaur series.
As my dinosaur series progresses there will be scenes in which everyday people across the planet have encounters with the resurgent dinosaurs. These average citizens could range from campers, farmers, police officers, fishermen, wildlife researchers, and even newlyweds. Imagine how these people would react if they came face-to-face with creatures that have been extinct for 65 million years. Some encounters may be wonderful, some may become a nuisance, and a few can become lethal. I am thinking of beginning the second volume of my dinosaur series with these kinds of encounters. They will be premonitions that set the mood for what is about to happen to human civilization.
Even though the dinosaurs in my new series will be original creatures of my own design, I am thinking of making them a homage to the classical types of dinosaurs. These types consist of theropod (meat-eating), hadrosaur (duck-billed), sauropod (long-necked), ceratopsian (horned), and so on. At the same time, I will be giving these animals features that set them apart from the dinosaurs they are based on. These features include a sauropod with an armored head, a ceratopsian without a neck frill, and a theropod that is a mixture between many predators. This way, my dinosaurs will be new while maintaining a familiar shape that my audience can recognize. While some dinosaurs had feather and some did not, my dinosaurs will all have feathers from one degree to another.
Grady P Brown - Author 